As We Walk Away
by obsessedwithstabler
Summary: The lights will go down.


A piece I wrote based on Warren Leight saying that the necklace Olivia wore in Missing Pieces was given to her by Elliot, along with another item. The scene with her receiving the items was cut, but the necklace is there. Maybe there is hope after all, but I won't hold my breath. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

SVUSVUSVUSVUSVU

Olivia Benson heaved a sigh and slowly removed the keys from the ignition of her car.

Three months. That was how long it had been since she had last seen her partner, her best friend. One tragic day had been enough to break them, when nothing else could.

She looked out the window, at the line of similarly structured houses. Hundreds of unanswered calls, thousands of tears, countless sleepless nights…and she was tired of it all. She had to see him, even if he didn't want to see her.

Beside her, in the passenger's seat, sat a box of mementos she had cleaned from his desk and packed away so neatly at Cragen's command. She couldn't imagine Elliot not wanting the pictures of his children, or many of the other things he had left. The only things she had not put in the box were his badge, and one picture she had been surprised to find tucked away in one of his drawers. Those she would take home with her, at least until he decided that he wanted them back.

If ever he did.

Finally she picked up the box and opened the door, reluctantly leaving the safe shell of her car. Her feet were heavy and slow to move as they carried her up the driveway and to the front door of the house where she always felt a little unwelcome. It wasn't her home, but because Elliot was there, it was. Wherever he was, she was home. And these past three months without him had left her floundering and drowning all at once.

Tucking the box under her arm, she counted ten breaths. In, out, in, out… Then she finally reached out and knocked on the heavy wood door. The sound seemed to echo, bouncing down the empty street and returning back to her. Suddenly this all seemed like a terrible idea. Her feet begged to carry her back to the car, but her heart made her stay.

The door suddenly opened, and Olivia was suddenly face to face with the man who had left her irreparably damaged. Who had ripped her heart out of her chest and cruelly taken it with him. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she held the box in front of her, using it as a shield of sorts.

He stared at her, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "Liv…?"

Finally she found her voice. "Hi, Elliot."

He just continued to stare at her, until he finally shook himself out of it. "What are you doing here?"

"I just…" She cleared her throat, suddenly desperate for something to ease her parched mouth. "I cleaned out your desk, and…and…"

"And you thought you'd bring it by?" he finished. Even being apart for three months hadn't changed his ability to finish her sentences and read her thoughts. "Thanks…" He held out a hand to take the box. He'd thought about getting the things from the precinct countless times, but each time he did, he was reminded of the bloodbath that had occurred that fateful day. The look on Sister Peg's face as she died, the horror in Olivia's eyes as she desperately tried to save her, the young girl he killed…

She looked at his extended hand, but was unable to hand the box to him. It was a last connection, something tangible that kept them together, and suddenly she couldn't bear the thought of parting with these things. Even if they were rightly his.

He patiently waited, and the unspoken words they were both thinking hung heavily in the dense air between them.

Finally she placed the box in his waiting hands. God, what was she going to do without him? They'd had twelve years together. Their partnership broke every rule, shattered every expectancy and rumor. Theirs had lasted longer than anyone else's, because they fit. They complemented each other, and they never gave up. Ever.

Until now.

He slowly took the box, then leaned over and gently placed it on the floor inside. Then he picked up an even smaller box that sat on a table beside the door.

She watched him with a mixture of curiosity and misery.

He studied the package, turning it over in his hands before offering it to her. "I got this for you."

She took it hesitantly, as if it were a bomb ready to explode and finally destroy her completely. "Thanks…"

"Liv, all this time… I never meant to hurt you." He truly hadn't. She was the last person who deserved any more pain, especially from her. It had been his job to protect her, to keep her safe from everything. And he had failed.

Nodding numbly, she tucked the package into her pocket.

Making a soft noise, he finally closed the distance between them, roughly pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly to his chest.

She stiffened, caught off guard by the sudden embrace. But it only took a few moments for her to melt into his arms. It wasn't his intention to hurt her. She knew that. But along the way, she had been hurt.

He buried his nose in her hair and shuddered. "I love you, Liv. I swear to God, I do."

She nodded, feeling sick as she realized that he was saying goodbye. Suddenly the thing that she had wanted most, she was terrified of. She couldn't bring herself to let go of him, and at the same time, she wanted to run. Just run, until the breaths she took hurt her body as much as his words were hurting her heart and soul.

Finally he pulled back, gently brushing the chestnut locks out of her eyes. Then he kissed her so softly and gently, she felt as though a ghost was kissing her.

It seemed to last for an eternity, and yet it was gone before she was ready. They both stepped back, and Elliot heard Kathy call to him from the kitchen.

Olivia watched him, her hand raising up to touch his lips. "Bye, El." Her voice was so quiet, and yet so loud that they both shook.

"Goodbye, Olivia."

She turned around and headed back down the driveway, feeling his piercing eyes on her back as she put more and more distance between them. She didn't want this, and she knew that a part of him didn't want it either. But it was done.

Getting into the car, Olivia shut the door and put the keys into the ignition. But before she started the engine, she pulled the package out of her pocket and opened it, her heart painfully heavy.

There was a jewelry box underneath the wrapping paper, and Olivia felt hot tears roll down her cheeks as she opened it. Inside, nestled in soft white cotton, was a delicate looking gold chain. Attached to the chain was a heart shaped locket, and she held it up to the light to read the inscription.

On the front, it simply read, _I'd give you a kidney._ She turned it over and started to sob as she read the words on the back.

_But I gave you my heart._

Looking through the window, she could see Elliot still standing in the doorway. She wanted to run back up to him, throw her arms around him and never let him go. But he wasn't hers to hold. He never had been.

Placing the necklace back in the box with reverence, she placed the box in the passenger's seat and wiped her tears away. Then she started the car and slowly pulled away from the curb.

Elliot watched her drive down the street, until the tail lights of her car disappeared from his sight.

"I'm so sorry, Olivia."

Slowly he turned and walked back into the house, closing the door gently behind himself.

The End.

A/N: Olivia wears several necklaces, so I'm not sure which was the Elliot necklace. Most of you probably remember the locket from a few of my other stories. I just love the idea of him giving her a locket with that phrase on it, so this will not be the last time it is brought up. Thanks for reading, and please review!


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